Happy World Blood Donor Day!

June 14, 2011

For those who aren’t familiar with it, this international event focuses on recognising and rewarding existing donors, motivating new donors, and promoting the strong need for blood over the summer season. The day also highlights the need to give blood to prevent shortages in hospitals.

This year’s theme is “More blood, more life”. Last week, 150 volunteers came together to paint the town red for a large scale group formation photo taken at night, in the grounds of St. Patricks Cathedral. The recruitment process was a nice example of how to engage your fans in your facebook communities. The response was phenomenal, and the event was a great success.

I’m proud to say that 3 OMD’ers were a part of it. Equipped with red umbrellas, torches and flash cameras, we helped form a human blood drop. Photographers positioned themselves on top of the cathedral to capture the moment and the end result was amazing.

As someone who is unable to donate blood, I was really keen to be a part of this, and to be able to give something back to a truly inspiring organisation. As the event was made up entirely of volunteers, and people who wanted to be there, the positive vibe and feel good attitude was infectious. Giving blood is an altruistic act, and this was another way of giving donors and volunteers the opportunity to get involved in a different way but with the same aim of promoting blood donation.

After the event, IBTS posted the photographs to their Facebook page, encouraging participants to tag themselves, thus further sharing their experience and good deed with their friends. Check out the pictures for yourself! Well done to all involved, looking forward to next year already.